Hello,
I’m a screenwriter, film director & festival director based in Zagreb, Croatia. I’m lucky enough to create worlds and tell stories for a living.
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My Bio
Daria Stilin (1990) comes from the island of Hvar and lives and works in Zagreb. For more than a decade, she has been working as a writer in various forms – content writer, journalist, novelist, and screenwriter, as well as the editorial assistant, script supervisor, and 1st AD. She holds an MA in Business Economics and an MA in Screenwriting from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art.
A selection of workshops she attended: TorinoFilmLab TV Series – Extended, the Script station within Talents Sarajevo 2018, CineLink Drama 2019, My First Script at Zagreb Film Festival 2019, European Writers Desk 2024, Let’s Pitch Some Shorts! 2024, European Showrunner Training 2024, etc. She got a scholarship from the Branko Bauer screenwriting program (DHFR) in 2018./2019., and is a two-time NEM (New Europe Market) Zagreb winner (in 2019 and 2023). She wrote and directed two short fiction films, Toast (2018) and Codfish (2020).
Aside from directing short films, she also develops several original TV series projects, as well as feature films. Daria got the script development funding from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre for two of her recent film and series projects, and has worked as a screenwriter for broadcasters Nova TV (Development department; writer for “Kumovi”/”Godparents”, 2022, and HRT (writer for “Gora”/”The Highlands”, 2023). She recently worked on a show with Drugi plan/Beta Film/ZDF, and is currently developing her original crime drama series with Antitalent and Big Light Productions.
She just graduated from the 3rd edition of European Showrunner Training by IFS, as one of the 13 international experienced screenwriters. There are two writers’ programs in 2025 that she’s currently participating in: Full Moon Creative Lab, and Going European.
Daria most recently won the 1st award at the Pula Film Festival in the PulaPRO category for “the most likely box office hit”, with her feature film in development “Tied Up” (“Projekt Palma”).
She’s also a founder and festival director of the short film boutique festival - Vrboska Film Festival (1-4/8/2025).
Daria writes and develops projects in Croatian and English.
Projects In Development (Selection)
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THE SPLITTING
Format: series, 8 x 50 min
Genre: Sci-Fi, thriller, drama
Festivals & workshops: Finalist at NEM Zagreb 2020 (2nd place)
What’s it about?
After the young psychiatrist, Imogen undergoes the splitting – the doubling of a person into an Original and a Duplicate – she wakes up in the body of the Duplicate and realizes she is going to have to wage a life-and-death struggle with her own Original in order to get her old life back and save the world.
Watch the pitching video here: THE SPLITTING -
DREAM HACKERS
Format: series, 8 x 60 min
Genre: Sci-Fi, thriller, drama
Festivals & workshops: Winner at NEM Zagreb 2019
What’s it about?
Promised a solution for her personal trauma, a young outsider with the ability to lucid dream and astral project, accepts the dangerous task of infiltrating the secret ranks of agents at the Morpheus corporation that provides instant lucid dreaming service. She must stop them before they irreversibly change the world. -
RESTART
Format: series, 8 x 60 min
Genre: Sci-Fi, thriller, drama
Developed at: The Academy of Dramatic Art Zagreb as a graduation project within the MA Screenwriting program
What’s it about?
A scientist is on the verge of discovering longevity that would enable a 200-year lifespan, unaware that this has already happened and caused a lot of problems. Now, both the infamous ‘Elite’ and her older self, are trying to influence the past from the future, and it is up to her to understand the messages and prevent an unimaginable crime. -
HOME
Format: series, 12 x 30 min
Genre: YA, drama, coming of age
Festivals & workshops: CineLink Drama 2019, Pula.Academy 2019
What’s it about?
Viki has to stay at the children’s home when her adoption falls through, and she starts her new high school by making trouble. Luckily, she meets friends who help her through the issues of growing up. None of them really know what ‘home’ feels like, no matter how great their lives seem - until they meet each other.
Optioned by Drugi Plan production company. -
CANVAS CITY (hrv. PLATNENI GRAD)
Format: limited series, 8 x 60 min
Genre: period drama, WWII
Festivals & workshops: TorinoFilmLab TV Series - Extended 2018, Talents Sarajevo 2018. Script development funding from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre 2023.
What’s it about?
The story is inspired by real historical events, set in the World War II period (1943.-1946.). It’s about survival, and it also explores the concept based on the premise of the reverse refugee situation – Europeans in the Middle East.The Nazis are getting closer and the Cosmi family is among many Yugoslavian refugees who have to flee. The Allied forces decide they are going to El Shatt, a camp in Egypt, and the local people accept them. However, there are many obstacles: poor hygiene, various epidemics, lack of food, language barriers, clash of cultures and religions, and a set of wartime rules.
All the members of the Cosmi family are faced with hardships, especially 17-year-old Sofia, who has to keep her pregnancy a secret. The only one on her side is a young Arab doctor. Sofia will have to quickly grow up in order to survive.
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TIED UP (hrv. PROJEKT PALMA)
Format: feature film, 90 min
Genre: comedy
Festivals/workshops: the script was developed with the support of the Branko Bauer scriptwriting program of the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild, and at the My First Script workshop (Zagreb Film Festival 2018).
NEM Zagreb 2023 winner. Script development funding by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre 2024. Winner of the PulaPRO “box office hit screenplay” award at the Pula Film Festival 2024.
What’s it about?
The islet Skojic where a single palm tree grows is located at Vrboska on the island of Hvar. Usually, nothing happens there, but now it suddenly becomes the location of fierce conflict. Thirty-year-old Lara, having fled to Ireland for personal reasons, is forced to return to her hometown. The mayor has decided to cut down the palm tree, and Lara’s grandfather ties himself to it to stop her. Lara has one week to resolve the situation and return to Ireland if she wants to keep her job and avoid trouble with her ex-boyfriend and family.
(Loosely inspired by real events.)
Produced Short Films
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CODFISH
Orig. Title: BAKALOR
fiction, short / comedy
2020 / 20’ / color
Writer/director: Daria (Kersic) Stilin
Short synopsis: Branko is a modern-day Don Quijote. The locals’ complaints, his dissatisfied wife, and the impossible bureaucracy are his windmills. One Christmas Eve in Vrboska on the island of Hvar will turn out to be the ultimate test for him and his fellow villagers.
Festivals and Awards: Pula Film Festival 2020 – Short Pula, Dalmatia Film Festival 2021, Star Film Festival 2022 (Audience Award), Vrboska Film Festival 2024 (out of competition)
HAVC Croatian film catalogue -
TOAST
Orig. Title: TOST
fiction, short / drama
2018 / 20’ / color
Writer/director: Daria (Kersic) Stilin
Short synopsis: High school graduates Julija and Lena go to Zagreb for a romantic weekend getaway, an unimaginable thing in their small hometown. Their trip turns into a nightmare when they realize they were tricked regarding the apartment they were renting. Their only recourse is Julija’s older brother Leo, who might prove an even bigger threat to their relationship.
Festivals and Awards: Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film 2018
HAVC Croatian film catalogue
Now available online on the Croatian.film platform
